The new book by J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is under some serious surveillance.
A £10 million security operation featuring an army of guards, satellite tracking systems and draconian legal contracts has swung into action to prevent any leak of details of the seventh and final book about the boy wizard.
Only its author J K Rowling and some 20 other people, including the book’s editors, illustrators and the “Potterologists” who ensure continuity, know Harry’s fate. In fact, when a lawyer for Scholastic hand delivered it from London to New York, he sat on it during the entire flight.
It seems almost ridiculous the measures being taken for this book:
London-based Bloomsbury, which publishes the Potter books in Britain, has hired secure sites across the country to house the book prior to distribution early this week. It is understood that several dozen security teams will protect the sites round the clock. Experts say security staff will earn up to £30 an hour with a guard dog, up to £20 without.
Print factory workers in Britain have been threatened with the sack if they leak any details, while German publishers banned mobile phones and even packed lunches in the printing plant. Some employees reportedly had to work in near-darkness to prevent them reading the book.
It is from Tuesday, however, when copies begin to be sent out to retailers, that the most crucial part of the security operation will come into effect. The trucks Bloomsbury will use are fitted with satellite tracking systems costing up to £1,000 each, which will reveal whether any of the vehicles deviates from its intended route. The books are on sealed pallets fitted with alarms to prevent tampering.
A spokesman for Bloomsbury said: “We have a litigation specialist poised 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any breaches. It is our intention to enforce the embargo vigorously and seek an immediate injunction if required.”
While experts put the cost of all this at £10 million, the lengths to which publishers have gone are not surprising.
Four years ago, Donald Parfitt, a forklift driver from Suffolk, was ordered to do 180 hours community service after he admitted stealing pages from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from the printing plant where he worked. Last year, Aaron Lambert was jailed for 4½ years for stealing copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and trying to sell them.
In recent weeks, Rowling has reportedly received letters from people asking her to reveal the ending of the seventh book because their terminally-ill relative may not live until Saturday.
A flurry of bets on Harry killing himself has seen bookmaker William Hill cut the odds of that happening from 33-1 to 10-11 on. Some Potter websites have suggested that fans wear headphones when they go to buy the book so that those who skip to the end can’t ruin it for them by telling them how the saga closes, while Wikipedia is blocking new contributions to its Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows page until after the book’s release.
Booksellers expect record sales for a number of days. Jon Howells, a spokesman for the Waterstones chain, said: “Everyone wants to find out the ending for themselves. They don’t want to hear it -second-hand. Putting The Da Vinci Code against this book is like putting a bungalow next to the Great Pyramids.”
TEEN film star Emma Watson is about to do a vanishing act from Hogwarts — because the Harry Potter films have lost their magic. Huh?
The pretty 16-year-old, who plays key character Hermione Granger, wants a spell doing other roles. She has REFUSED to sign a new contract, plunging the final two movies of the JK Rowling novels into crisis.
The feisty young actress has told producers that even doubling her pay packet to £2 million a movie won’t do the trick. Filming on the sixth film in the series — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — is due to start in months.
Daniel Radcliffe is already signed up to star as the quidditch-playing wizard and Rupert Grint will again play Harry’s best pal Ron Weasley. He told us: “Emma doesn’t want to do it any more. She’s tired of being known as ‘that girl from Harry Potter’.”
She was shocked when a besotted fan stalked her at school.
Rupert added: “Daniel and I are distant from her now. We don’t text or talk to her when we are not filming.”
Their last film together — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — comes out in July.
Film makers Warner Brothers confirmed Emma, has not signed for more movies.
JK Rowling has revealed that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the title of the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series.
The name of the long-awaited seventh and last Harry Potter book has been revealed today in a puzzle on the author’s website. Booksellers are already predicting that the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the literary event of the year but a date has yet to be set by JK Rowling’s publishers, Bloomsbury.
On her website Rowling, 41, admits that she is still writing the book about Harry’s last year at Hogwarts school. She said: “I’m now writing scenes that have been planned, in some cases, for a dozen years or even more. I both want, and don’t want, to finish this book.” But she reassured expectant fans: “Don’t worry, I will.”
The multi-millionaire recently hinted that two characters are expected to die in the finale - and Harry himself might not survive - saying: “We are dealing with pure evil here. “They don’t target extras, do they? They go for the main characters - well, I do.”
Ms Rowling reveals the title of the book through a puzzle and a game of hangman.
Booksellers predicted that demand for the book will be even higher than the last one, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, which broke UK records by shifting 2,009,574 copies on its first day of release. Kes Nielsen, Head of Books Buying at Amazon.co.uk, says: “The book’s release will be met with an unprecedented level of excitement but also a sense of sadness. Over the past 10 years, so many people have been enchanted by the world and characters that JK Rowling has created. It will be like saying goodbye to an old friend.
I certainly can’t recall anything like this level of pop culture hysteria around a book series previously. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy came out decades before the advent of the modern hype machine and no other books that I can think of so captured the imagination of children and adult readers alike.
Harry Potter V, will prove to be another mega hit. Rumor has it that one of the lead characters will die.
“We probably got it on the 30th take. My God, it was fun. We were awkward and nervous at first but once we got it, it was fine.” -Daniel Radcliffe who plays the character of Harry Potter
HARRY Potter fans have been given a sneak preview of the latest movie with the release of the first stills from Order of the Phoenix, the fifth film in the series based on JK Rowling’s books.
In one image, Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays the young wizard, is seen crouching in an grimy alleyway as he attempts to defend himself from an attack by the Dementors.
In another, Imelda Staunton, who plays Dolorees Umbridge, the latest teacher of the dark arts, stands in Hogwarts school wearing a pink tweed poncho. Maggie Smith, as Minerva McGonagall, clasps her arms round Emma Thompson, looking uncharacteristically frumpy as Sybil Trelawny.
David Bradley is also back as Argus Filch, the caretaker and bane of Harry’s existence, in a role he has played since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001.
Here are some additional cast members.
RYAN NELSON as first boy, NICK SHRIM as Somewhat Doubtful Boy BONNIE WRIGHT as Ginny Weasley SHEFALI CHOWDHURY as Parvati Patil OLIVER PHELPS as George Weasley AFSHAN AZAD as Padma Patil KATIE LEUNG as Cho Chang JAMES PHELPS as Fred Weasley DANIEL RADCLIFFE as Harry Potter MATTHEW LEWIS as Neville Longbottom EMMA WATSON as Hermione Granger RUPERT GRINT as Ron Weasley EVANNA LYNCH as Luna Lovegood WILLIAM MELLING as Nigel ALFRED ENOCH as Dean Thomas
The sixth instalment in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is to follow in November 2008.
London-based Bloomsbury, which publishes the Potter books in Britain, has hired secure sites across the country to house the book prior to distribution early this week. It is understood that several dozen security teams will protect the sites round the clock. Experts say security staff will earn up to £30 an hour with a guard dog, up to £20 without.
The pretty 16-year-old, who plays key character Hermione Granger, wants a spell doing other roles. She has REFUSED to sign a new contract, plunging the final two movies of the JK Rowling novels into crisis.
